Ruin Me (Savage Bosses)

Chapter 33

CHAPTER 33

K ent

Anticipation and anxiety filled me. I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in days. Every time I saw Madison, she looked like she was working herself into exhaustion on my behalf. The one worry I didn’t have was her tendency to skip meals. With her staying at her parent’s house, Nikita and Dennis wouldn’t allow her to drink meal replacements as she worked.

I’d always admired Nikita’s strong will and dedication to her family when Ife and Madison were younger. Now, my admiration skyrocketed for how Madison’s mother continued to care for my woman while I was incapable.

I closed my eyes and breathed through my frustration. Today’s meeting with Judge Alderton was my chance to get home and reassure myself Madison, Ife, and my company were out of danger.

Quarren, Kemp, and I sat in the judge’s chambers surrounded by oppressive, dark brown furnishings. Was the point to leech any semblance of hope from the accused? Or was the decor to send a warning to both sides of the bleak days ahead?

“I’m ready to hear your arguments.” Judge Alderton and his clerk entered the room. The judge removed his robe before seating himself behind the heavy mahogany desk while the clerk sat to take notes.

“There’s a motion to dismiss. On what basis?” Alderton glanced at Quarren then Kemp.

While my lawyer and the DA went back and forth about the reasons, precedents, and other legal jargon for whether the case had merit, my mind wandered to the two women waiting in silent support in the halls. Tension separated them, and although hopeful, I doubted their distance was only because of my circumstances.

“Alright counselors. I’ve heard your take. I’ll issue my decision tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” I lurched from my chair.

“Yes. Tomorrow. Unless you’d like me to deny the motion right now?” Alderton arched his brow and looked toward my chair.

I took his silent suggestion and sat, seething about yet another delay.

While he rattled off instructions, I listened with half an ear. My next move was to involve Valentino. His wasn’t a name I liked to use lightly. Favors with DeLucas came at an expense, and I already had a future debt I owed them. Although Carol’s murder halved the debt, the man behind her was still out there, and Quarren’s defense strategy wasn’t to find him or raise reasonable doubt through another party. Regardless, I wanted the name of the man making my life into a nightmare.

Quarren patted my shoulder, and I glanced around the room to see Kemp on his way out. I rose and followed my lawyer through the exit.

“Can you negotiate some time for me to speak with Ife and Madison?”

He checked his watch. “Let me see if there’s a room available.” He went down the hall.

Before disappearing, he paused to talk to Madison and Ife. Quarren pointed in my direction and left. My daughter and her best friend approached. An aircraft carrier could dock in the space between them. Despite the distance, their steps had a bounce and a lightness surrounded them.

“You two seem oddly optimistic. What do you know that I don’t?”

They shared a glance, but Madison spoke first.

“We don’t want to jinx it.”

“Jinx what?” I asked.

Ife hugged me instead of answering, a smile wobbling on her lips. “You’ll see soon enough.”

I crushed her to me. The last time my daughter hugged me like this, she was moving to D.C. to conquer the world. It was the first time I realized she didn’t need me to fight her battles. I was at a loss because Lola’s passing was still fresh and my daughter would be half a country away.

“Dad, I can’t breathe.”

“Sorry.” I loosened my hold.

Quarren strode toward us, and Ife sidled beside me. I held my hand out to Madison and pulled her to my other side. Despite the fuckery, I relished having my love and my daughter standing beside me. It gave me hope for the day Ife and Madison would reconcile and make more moments of us coming together like this the norm rather than as a result of tragic circumstances.

“Kent, I found a room. You have an hour.” Quarren nodded toward a closed door across the hall.

As soon as the door closed behind us, Madison charged toward the desk while extracting a blue folder from her bag. “Since we only have an hour, we need to go through these files for clues.” She withdrew another folder, this one was pink. “Ife and I read through several documents already and started digging into some of these LLCs and cross-referencing them with the list of shareholders Omar sent over. However, Hal had a lot of contracts and other documents we still need to get through.” The last folder she removed was purple.

“What do you mean Hal had a lot of contracts? And how exactly did you obtain these files?” My voice was strained as I picked up the purple folder.

Madison didn’t… couldn’t mean to imply she had an active role in gathering this information.

She folded her arms and glared. “Kent, would you rather argue about my methods or find the asshole trying to steal your company? I know what my priority is, but maybe you need a refresher?”

Ife’s eyes widened at our confrontation, however she wisely bit her lip and shuffled through the pink folder.

I stood over Madison, uncaring of my imposing stance. “No, little bunny. You need the reminder.” I grabbed her chin and matched her glower. “You are my priority. Your health. Your safety. Your life. Everything else takes second chair.”

She lowered her lashes, hiding the brilliant brown eyes I loved to lose myself in.

I jerked her head up. “Whatever shit you did to get these files, don’t do it again.”

She nodded and I punished her for her recklessness with a fierce kiss. I was just getting started when Quarren cleared his throat.

“Do I have to remind you we have a time limit?”

I separated from Madison with one last peck on an un-pigmented spot on her cheek. “Let’s get to this.”

Quarren and Ife brought out their laptops, making the research into some LLCs go faster, but Madison had collected a lot of information. When I checked the time, twenty minutes had passed and I was still researching the first LLC.

“This is odd,” Madison said.

We all raised our heads, curious about what caused her outburst.

“Hal has a contract for the sale of an LLC but the buyer and dates are blank.”

“Why’s that odd? If he’s the owner of the LLC, he could be using the contract as a template,” Quarren said without looking up from his pile of documents.

“Mmm, I’m not sure. I feel like I ran across the name of the LLC before and it’s not one of his.”

“Let me see. It could belong to Luxe Locations.” I reached for the contract.

My company owned a lot of LLCs. Although I didn’t have them all memorized, if it belonged to me, the name should look familiar.

The name of the LLC did look familiar, but not for the reason I’d hoped. I rifled through the papers I’d spent the last twenty minutes skimming. “I need a laptop.” I snapped my fingers.

Ife reached me first.

There were a few windows up. As I minimized them, one struck me. It was an image of file folders. One had my surname on it as well as a couple others. Although I found it strange, I minimized the window to open a search engine to find what I needed. I keyed in the name of the LLC and followed the clues until I got to a person. I clenched my fists as rage filled me.

“Dad, you found something?”

I was about to answer her when a knock interrupted me.

Quarren rose and answered the door. “Kemp? What are?—”

“You’ve got your damn dismissal.” He stalked into the room, his glare pointed in my direction. “You’re lucky Mr. Luxe. We have another suspect in custody.”

Madison and Ife shared a glance and their lips tilted up slightly.

“Who is it?” Quarren stepped around Kemp and folded his arms.

“Luxe Locations’ legal counsel, Hal Hannity.”

“Hal? A murderer?” I asked, finding it hard to believe the man I’d worked with and whose ass I kicked was the same man capable of killing Carol.

“For the Carol murder or all the murders you suspect my client of committing?”

Kemp’s lips thinned. “All of them. We’ve prepared the paperwork for Mr. Luxe’s release.” Kemp handed a sheaf of papers to Quarren.

“I appreciate this.” Quarren began scanning the documents and Kemp turned to leave. “By the way, you aren’t going to try to connect my client to another conspiracy theory now that you have the actual murderer in custody are you?”

Kemps shoulder stiffened. “No, we no longer have reason to believe Mr. Luxe had any involvement.”

Once he left, Madison and Ife’s smirk grew into full-blown grins.

“You’re coming home today,” Madison croaked as her eyes gleamed.

I was still in a state of disbelief. Kemp’s appearance and disappearance were so sudden after dropping the good news.

“Did you two have something to do with this?” I stared between the two women.

In turn, they glanced at Quarren who shrugged and packed his laptop. “I think my presence may complicate things. Congratulations, Kent. If you want me to look into these files some more, I can.”

“Thanks.” I shook his hand. “But there’s no need. I found who I’ve been looking for.”

Shock filled Ife’s and Madison’s faces. “You did?” they asked in the same breath.

Madison stepped forward. “Who’s trying to steal your company?”

“Someone I’ll handle.” I cleared the search history from Ife’s computer and closed the windows before returning it to her.

“Does this mean all your problems are handled?” Ife asked while staring at Madison.

The light in Madison’s eyes dimmed, and her curious smile fell.

I peered closer between my daughter and my lover, understanding there was a message exchanged in a language I didn’t speak, and I had no translator available to clue me in on the real topic.

“Not quite. I still have unanswered questions, but I expect life will return to normal soon.”

“I like the sound of that. A return to normalcy .” Ife hugged me but it was unlike the earlier one she shared.

Beneath her glee was a sinister satisfaction that left me unnerved. Especially as Madison stood farther away than I liked during Ife’s mini-celebration.